Air conditioning machine



May I,' 1934. E J BUCKLEY ET AL 1,957,316

AIR CONDITIONING MACHINE Filed April 1. 1932 Patented May I, 1934 AIR CONDITIONING MACHINE Earl J. Buckley and Francis R. Stevens, Hamilton,

' Ontario,

Application April 1, 19

2 Claims.

This invention relates to air conditioning machines, and may be used for humidifying, dehumidifying, heating, cooling, and washing the air in a building, or for subjecting gases to a water spray or vapor.

The object of our invention is to provide efficient humidifying means with aminimum of wasted humidifying water, and to provide means for regulating the humidifying effect of the device.

We attain our object by drawing the air downward into the device and then passing it upward through a fine spray; by providing a plurality of discs and corrugated rings for creating a spray; by providing means whereby water is carried on both the top and underside of one of the discs to the periphery thereof; by providing a by-pass damper for permitting the air or part thereof to pass through the machine without being humidified;' by providing means for regulatingthe water supply; and by providing a removable and regulable source of water supply.

Our invention is hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which 7 Fig. 1 is a plan view,'partly broken away, and

Fig. 2 a vertical section on the line 22 in'Fig. 1.

In the drawing like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

The outer casing 1 is provided with a top head 2 and a bottom head 3, which is supported in spaced relationship from the ground by legs or supports 4. v

Superimposed annular ribbed rings 5 and 6 are supported on the bottom head 3 by bolts 29 which pass through 'lugs 5 and 6 respectively on the annular rings 5 and 6 and are provided with spacer sleeves and 31 between the upper ring 6 and the lower ring 5 and between the lower ring 5 and bottom head 3 respectively.

Mounted on the bottom head 3 of the outer casing and bolted to the supports 4 through said casing are further supports 4 which support a platform or spider 7 on which is mounted a. vertical motor 8 having a shaft 9 on the upper end of which is mounted a radial discharging fan 10 just below an opening 11 in' the top or upper head 2 of t eouter casing 1, and which is adapted to suck al in through the said opening and force it through the conditioning machine as hereinafter described.

Y An inner casing 12, open at the bottom and having an upper head 13 is mounted on the support 4 adjacent the point at which the motor platform 7 is secured to said support. The head Canada 32, Serial No. 602,416,

i3 is provided with an opening therein for the passage of the shaft 9 of the motor and the hub of the fan 10. The inner casing and its head act as a baffle directing the air sucked in by the fan outwardly and downwardly in the annular space 14 between the outer casing 1 and the inner casing 12, passing beneath the inner casing 12 through the space A between the bottom of said inner casing 12 and the lower head 3 of the outer casing and upwardly into the interior of the inner casing 12 and out through a flue 15 which communicates with a suitable stack 16 which directs the air to the room or other desired place through an outlet 16 such as illustrated in Fig. l. A stack, not shown, is ordinarily used to direct the air to the opening 11 in the upper head 2 of the casing 1.

Mounted on the lower head of the shaft 9 of the motor 8 is a hollow inverted frusto-conical member 17 which projects through an opening 18 in the lower head 3 and is adapted to dip into water in a water reservoir 19. The rotation of this cone member causes water to pass up the inner and outer walls of the cone by centrifugal action.

A pair of annular discs 20 and 20 are secured to lugs on the exterior of the cone member 17 and extend horizontally therefrom, their peripheries being adjacent but spaced from the corrugated rings 5 and 6. The upper end of the cone member 17 is open so that the water travelling up the inner wall thereof passes out through the top and is deposited on the toprof the upper disc 20*, when it is thrown by centrifugal action to the outer edge of the disc and against the corrugated ring 6 which breaks it up into a fine spray which is thrown outward into the passage of air A beneath the inner casing 12 and between the bottom of said inner casing and the lower casing head 3, thus cleansing and moisteningthe air.

Water travelling up the outer side of the cone travels out along the under side of the lower disc 20 and is thrown against the corrugated ring 5 which breaks it into a spray and throws it like- 20 I Excess water from the lower ring 5 is carried by the extension 22 and permitted to fall on to the lower casing head 3 whence it flows through the opening 18 into the reservoir 19. Spray water which has not been absorbed by the air likewise drops on the lower head 3 and runs back into the reservoir 19. The reservoir 19 is supported beneath the lower head 3 by brackets 23, each provided with an inturned flange at its lower edge adapted to engage a bead on the rim of the reservoir 19 so that said reservoir may be slid into or out of position, so that it may be removed and emptied in order to remove deposits of dirt which have been collected by the water from the air which has been conditioned, and carried by the water into the reservoir, where it settles to the bottom.

Water is supplied to the water reservoir by a pipe 24 provided with afloat cock 25 for controlling the amount of water in the reservoir. The humidifying effect of the device may be varied by varying the amount of water in the reservoir.

The humidifying effect may also be varied by providing a series of adjustable baffle plates 26 in the stack 16.

The humidifying effect of the device may also be varied by providing a side outlet or flue 27 to the outer casing 1, this outlet preferably leading to the stack 16. A damper 28 is provided in this outlet to control the. amount of air passing therethrough. This permits air tov pass directly out of the device without passing through the humidifying apparatus.

The operation of this device is as follows: Air is sucked in through the opening 11 by means of the fan 10 and is forced downwardly through the annular space 14 surrounding theinner casing 12, to the bottom thereof, where it passes through the annular space A between the bottom of the casing 12 and the lower head 3 of the outer casing 1, and reverses its direction passing upwardly into the interior of the casing 12 and thence out through the side opening or flue 15. The annular flue l4 and the annular space A at the bottom of the casing 12 are comparatively large so that the passage of the air; is comparatively slow, and the injection of the spray into this comparatively slow moving current of air at the point where it changes direction tends to secure a very thorough impregnation of the air with moisture.

It will be seen from the above description that we have satisfactorily achieved the objects of this invention.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In an air conditioning machine of the kind described, means for discharging a fine spray into the air, comprising a water reservoir; a single rotating hollow inverted frusto-conical member open at its upper end; a pair of spaced circular discs both secured to the upper end of said member, said frustosconical member having its lower end adapted to dip into said reservoir whereby water is drawn upwardly over its inner surfaces and through the open top and is distributed by centrifugal action over the upper surface of the upper disc and whereby water is also drawn upwardly over the outer surface of the said frustoconical member to the lower disc and distributed over the lower surface thereof; and a ring adjacent the periphery of the upper disc and extending between the upper and lower discs, whereby excess water from the upper disc is deposited in the upper surface of the lower disc.

2. In an air conditioning machine of the kind described,'means for discharging a fine spray into the air, comprisinga water reservoir; a single rotating hollow inverted frusto-conical member open at its upper end; a pair of spaced annular discs both secured to the upper end of said member,,said frusto-conical member having its lower end adapted to dip into said reservoir whereby water is drawn upwardly over its inner surfaces and through the open top and is distributed by entrifugal action over the upper surface of the upper disc and whereby water is also drawn upwardly over the outer surface of the said frustoconical member to the lower disc and distributed over the lower surface thereof; a lower annular corrugated ring adjacent the periphery of the lower disc; and an upper corrugated ring adjacent the periphery of the upper disc and extending between the upper and lower discs, whereby excess water from the upper disc falls on to said corrugated ring and is thereby deposited on the upper surface of the lower disc from whence it is thrown against the lower annular corrugated ring.

EARL J. BUCKLEY. FRANCIS R. STEVENS. 

